Puckworld

Brad Ziemer writes: VANCOUVER — The Canucks come up empty on an early power play. Daniel Sedin thought he had a goal at the three-minute mark, but his redirect of a pass from brother Henrik rattled off the left post. Phoenix forward Garth Murray had a shorthanded breakaway, but wasn’t able to get a good shot away on Roberto Luongo.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Here’s the deal for the Canucks tonight. The Phoenix Coyotes are a team, on paper, that should not win this game. The Nashville Predators, L.A. Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets are also teams that should not beat the Canucks if coach Alain Vigneault and the boys fancy themselves a playoff club. The Canucks took care of the Kings and Preds but couldn’t beat the Jackets. So they’re 2-1-0 in these ... Read More …

Brad Ziemer writes: VANCOUVER — Who does Wayne Gretzky think he is, Mike Keenan? There won’t be any homecoming tonight for Phoenix rookie Kyle Turris, who will watch tonight’s game from the press box. The 19-year-old New Westminster native is a healthy scratch for the second straight game. Turris also sat out Tuesday night’s 4-2 win in Calgary. . .Earlier today, the Canucks sent defenceman Lawrence Nycholat to Manitoba for a conditioning stint. Nycholat has ... Read More …

Brad Ziemer writes: VANCOUVER — Heading into Wednesday night’s schedule, no NHL team had scored more goals than the 45 the Canucks have potted in their first 13 games. And that makes coach Alain Vigneault’s decision to do some more line-juggling a bit curious. Vigneault has, for the second time this young season, removed Steve Bernier from the Sedin line. Michel Ouellet, who was called up from Manitoba before Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over Nashville, ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — The big Kyle Turris homecoming game at GM Place Thursday might not even happen. Turris, the 19-year-old kid from New West, was a healthy scratch in Calgary Tuesday night and his Phoenix Coyotes won without him. ‘Yotes coach Wayne Gretzky hinted after practice here Wednesday he might not want to mess with a winning lineup against the Canucks. That will be too bad for young Kyle as he is planning ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Pavol Demitra’s rib injury has turned the Canuck season around. If the Slovak doesn’t tear rib cartilage in Chicago on Oct. 19, Kyle Wellwood doesn’t get another chance to play prominent minutes in a key role. Now he has six goals to lead the team and he appears indispensible to the Canuck fortunes. In addition to his two-goal performance Tuesday against the Predators, he went 7-for-10 in the faceoff circle. ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — It was an excellent third period for the Canucks as they outscored the Predators three-zero and preserved Roberto Luongo’s third shutout of the season. Nashville had only four shots in the third. I have a feeling Coach Vee is going to like that. The three stars as selected by TSN were: Kyle Wellwood,Roberto Luongo and Daniel Sedin. Good choices. Welly is the new hero in town.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Daniel Sedin nudges a Willie Mitchell point shot over the line at 14:57 and it’s 4–0 Nucks, This one is in the bag. The only questions remaining are whether Bobby Luongo gets a shutout, Kyle Wellwood gets a hat trick or whether there is mayhem sparked by Predator disturber Jordin Tootoo, who has been surprisingly quiet to this point.... Read More …

VANCOUVER — Kyle Wellwood had company atop the Canuck goal-scoring leaderboard for 59 seconds. Sophomore Mason Raymond collected a juicy rebound on the power play at 5:36 of the third after Kevin Bieksa made a nice keep-in at the point. Wellwood then netted his sixth when he won an offensive draw, got a return feed from Taylor Pyatt on the scramble and walked in unmolested on Dan Ellis when Ryan Suter went fishing for the ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — An interesting development to start the third period. Manitoba callup Michel Ouellet took the first shift of the period with the twins. Steve Bernier, who started the game with Hank and Danny, is now skating with Wellwood and Pyatt.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — So what do we have here? The Canucks have won one more draw than the Predators, 20-19. Ryan Kesler is 5-for-9. Hank Sedin is 5-for-10 and the struggling Ryan Johnson is also 5-for-10. Sami Salo leads all shooters with five. Kyle Wellwood has three. The top Predators shooter is JP Dumont with four. Canucks are 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Here comes the third ... Read More …

VANCOUVER– The Canucks scored first tonight against Nashville and when they score first, they are 4-0-0. They are leading after two periods and when they lead after two periods, they are 2-0-0. So what’s the more stunning stat? (A) They have scored the first goal only five times in 13 games or (B) this is only the third time this season they have been ahead after 40 minuites. I vote for the latter. (The previous ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Can the Canucks make like Barack Obama and record a victory, too? They just posted the U.S. election results on the big scorebaord and the crowd went wild. Hey, the Canucks have killed four straight penaties and have one on the power play. A special night so far.... Read More …

VANCOUVER — Little Kyle Wellwood is now the Canucks big man in the goal scoring department. He netted his fifth of the season, on the power play at 9:10 of the second. Welly — if that’s what they call him — shovelled home his own rebound after he and Henrik Sedin had a 2-on-0 down low when both Nashville defencemen, Ryan Suter and Gred de Vries, inexplicably vacated their own slot area.... Read More …

Ellioptt Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — The Canucks are going on the power play for the fourth time as an opposition player finally did something stupid, Martin Erat roughing Darcy Hordichuk behind the play on a retaliation. The Canucks generated a few chances on their last power play but they’re still not looking too confident.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Okay, Henrik Sedin wasn’t as bad as I thought on the draw as he went 3-for-7 but Radek Bonk was an outstanding 6-for-8 and most of those wins seemed to be against Hank (the Shank). Michel Ouellet played five shifts in the first and had one shot on goal.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Flash bulletin! The Canucks haven’t allowed a power play goal in two Nashville chances. The Nucks’ second penalty was for too many men on a bad change. Predator Ryan Jones then helped them out by taking a neutral zone penalty for hooking. And so the period came to an end, each team with a player in the box, each with 11 shots on goal and the GM Place crowd restless. ... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — Well, after all that talk about not taking dumb penalties, Canuck Alex Burrows took a dumb penalty, roughing Predators rookie Patric Hornqvist long after the whistle. Hornqvist almost shoved Willie Mitchell into Roberto Luongo, which provoked a little scrum and then the Burrows cuff. The Canucks managed to kill the penalty.... Read More …

Elliott Pap writes:
VANCOUVER — The Canucks have remained out of the penalty box so that’s solved the penalty kill problem. They’ve had one power play and it wass feeble, so that’s problem persists. The Canucks are outshooting the Predators 10-4 but Nashville netminder Dan Ellis has seen most of the shots and hasn’t had to be spectacular…... Read More …